New Beer and Cider Distributor Building Portfolio

Square Keg, the new sales and distribution business that is headed up by former Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) regional director Garry Hastings, recently announced the first product in its portfolio.

English brand Aspall Cyder has moved from Lion to join Square Keg, the business formed in September by independent brewer Stone & Wood.

Aspall has been available in the Australian market for nearly ten years, having first been imported by Little Creatures and then by new owner Lion.

Square Keg Managing Director Garry Hastings told drinks bulletin that having joined Lion’s broader portfolio, Aspall was mostly distributed through Coles Liquor outlets.

“We’re going to open it up a bit further. We can see that it’s got potential more broadly, rather than just being with a national grocery customer,” he said.

“It’s a really classy, elegant, premium looking package and the liquid itself is actually really beautiful.”

Aspall is currently available only in 500ml bottles, a format that Coopers recently said had failed to fire in this market for fellow English cider brand, Thatchers Gold.

“Once we’ve actually had a handle on it for a while, we’ll make an assessment then about which SKUs are the best to have. We may add a 330ml bottle,” commented Hastings.

The Square Keg MD said it was exciting to be a part of the growing craft beer and cider segment after working for AB InBev and, prior to its takeover of Grupo Modelo, being General Manager Oceania Region for the Corona maker.

“It’s a really exciting space, craft and cider. They’re the two big growth engines in the marketplace at the moment,” he said.

“It’s great to be a part of those, as it was for many years in the international space when it was the driving force in the marketplace.”

Hastings said Square Keg’s distribution model aims to emphasise good service, reliability and a quality product portfolio that will be supplemented by the announcement of additional beer and cider brands very soon.

The company will be seeking to genuinely add value to customers through partnering with them long-term, “rather than just a transactional buy/sell, distributor/customer basis,” he said.

Aspall partner and eighth generation cider maker, Henry Chevallier Guild said in a statement that Lion’s reach and market insight had been hugely helpful in cementing Aspall’s position in the market.

“We are hugely grateful to Lion for their support and we are looking forward to the next phase of Aspall’s growth, in line with our broader international plans.”

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